The NBA Has Found Steve Ballmer And The Clippers GUILTY Of Cap Circumvention And Ruled They Must Forfeit 5 First Round Picks And Pay A $30 Million Dollar Fine

Kevork Djansezian. Getty Images.

If you can believe it, we were quickly approaching the 1 year anniversary (September 3, 2025) of when Pablo Torre officially dropped the entire Kawhi Leonard scandal, and the NBA still hadn't dropped the verdict of their investigation. For something that on the surface seemed pretty cut and dry, Adam Silver and the league office kept taking their sweet ass time. 

Well, friends, we finally have a verdict. 

Would Adam Silver and the league give Steve Ballmer and the Clippers a slap on the wrist adn try and brush it all under the rug, or would they drop the hammer?

BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe -- stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker, sources tell ESPN. Kawhi Leonard will have to pay $700,000 in restitution for improper benefits by the Clippers for his uncle and former business rep, Dennis Robertson. No contract void or suspension for Leonard. And Robertson -- who was fired by Leonard in June -- is being banned by the NBA from all business dealings.

Per NBA: The Clippers shall forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts. 

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules. 

Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year for being primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators.

Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family. 

The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for a period of five years.

Remember that ESPN report that the NBA reportedly found no wrongdoing or cap circumvention from the Clippers and Steve Ballmer only for the NBA to immediately push back? Whoops! I guess we now know who was feeding ESPN that angle to try and clear Ballmer's name eh? Again…whoops!

Make no mistake, this is essentially as close to the death penalty as you can get with stuff like this. Back when this happened with Joe Smith and the Timberwolves back in 2000, the Wolves were forced to forfeit 5 1st round picks and pay a $3.5M fine, so it's not surprising that the NBA probably used that precedent to establish the pick penalty and then just upped the fine amount slightly to $30M. That part means nothing considering Ballmer is richer than God, but the 5 1st round picks? That's no laughing matter.  Remember, the Clippers also don't own their 2028 pick either 

Giphy Images.

and given what their roster looks like for the foreseeable future, losing 1st round picks in every draft from now until 2033 is a big deal. As of now, they would only have a Pacers pick in 2029, no picks in 2030, a Raptors pick in 2031, no pick in 2032, and a Raptors pick in 2033. Not great considering the Raptors and Pacers should be pretty good moving forward unless something crazy happens. 

I guess now we know why Ballmer went so hard in the paint trying to deny the whole thing when the news first broke. Remember when he went on ESPN for a sitdown interview and tried to spinzone everything as bullshit and that he was actually the victim? Fun times. We all know how long it took the Wolves to recover from their death penalty, and I imagine the same thing will be true for the Clippers. They're cooked. Especially if the pick they have to surrender is the better one for the Drafts where they own multiple firsts, which let's be honest, it should be. Cap circumvention is a very very very big deal considering it breaks the integrity of the entire league. You can't have a fair and balanced league when an owner with the most money goes around the rules to pay and bring in talent. That's sort of the whole point of the salary cap. You have to drop the hammer when someone tries to skirt the rules.

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In terms of Kawhi, I'm actually OK with him mostly skating by. The $700K is nothing and the fact that his contract didn't get voided and he avoided suspension is great news for the Raptors. Now the trade can finally go through and we can all move on,. The league is better when a healthy Kawhi is playing, and it wouldn't have been fair to the Raptors to screw them over just because Steve Ballmer and the Clippers did some shady shit. We all knew his Uncle Dennis was asking for extra benefits, that wasn't news, so that ruling is fine with me

Kawhi Leonard, through his new agent, Harrison Gaines, issues statement: 

“Integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family.   

I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question in good faith, fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap.   

For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game, and those I share the court with. As I return to Toronto, I am focused on what I can control, closing this chapter, and moving forward with a clean slate."

Also, how about the vindication of Pablo Torre? He might be the biggest winner of all this. Clippers fans and reporters crushed him for trying to make something out of nothing and using this story for clicks/attention, only for the NBA to basically confirm all of his reporting? Huge win for Pablo Torre

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You know who should be sweating right now? The Milwaukee Bucks

You want to talk about cap circumvention, well that's also pretty much exactly what the Bucks did back when they were trying to convince Giannis to stay. They clearly told Gary Trent Jr they'd make him whole in the future if he took a discount given they could only afford minimum deals, only to then give him an insane $64M deal after Giannis left and he was coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. Totally normal! 

Given the Bucks themselves are a rebuilding team, being forced to forfeit 5 1st round picks would be devastating for them as well, but again, that's why there are rules. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Just don't be surprised if they are the next team to feel the wrath of Adam Silver when it comes to exposing cap circumvention. That'll probably be the next shoe to drop.